why do they call it the white house

By Jerry Stewart - Vision Productions PPP We all know the Washington, DC is the home of all of our most important federal buildings, some of our most famous national monuments, and, of course, the White House where our president lives. But have you ever wonder why it s called the White House? PPP Interestingly enough the White House was designed by James Hoban, an Irish architect, after he won the contest for best design. They began building the White House in 1792 and the first president to live in it was President John Adams and his wife. At that time it was called the President s House.

So where did the name White House come from? Well, when the War of 1812 started, the British army was still sore from the licking they took in the American Revolution, so they were determined to get even. And one great way was to burn down our capitol city and everything in it. So the British troops stormed our capitol city and took it over, and immediately made plans to burn it down. And one of the buildings they set on fire was the President s home. Fortunately, the house did not burn completely down, but the outside was turned black from the smoke and fire damage.

So, after the war the president s house was painted, you guessed it, it was painted white, and people started calling it the White House. And in 1901, President Teddy Roosevelt officially named it the White House. Very interesting. But here s one other amazing, miraculous part of that story. When the British took over Washington, DC they were almost unopposed, so the British troops were feeling pretty good about their easy victory - and they were determined to level that city by fire! But here s where the story gets very mysterious. As they began setting fires all across the city, a terrible storm struck the area with wind and rains so violent that historians tell us it may have been the single most violent storm in the history of that city.

Well, when that violent wind began to rage, and the rain beat down on the soldiers, it was reported that they became afraid, very afraid. And they abandoned their efforts to burn down the city. In fact, they just left. Now, some would call it a mysterious coincidence. But not me, and not the people then. They believed with all their hearts that Almighty God Himself had sent that violent storm to save America, to help our nation when we could not ourselves - and they thanked Him.

PPP What a powerful story, and what a message for us today as
we need God in America now more than ever. The building was originally referred to variously as the "President's Palace", "Presidential Mansion", or "President's House " The name "Executive Mansion" was used in off icial contexts until President Theodore Roosevelt established the formal name by having "White House--Washington" engraved on the stationery in 1901. The current letterhead wording and arrangement "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath goes back to the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Previous answer in this space was: "Roosevelt didn't give his residence the name of the "White House. " Published works show that it had that nickname as early as 1811. Roosevelt simply adapted the informal name as the official name.

In the 1800's very few houses were painted because paint was very expensive so to paint a whole house white was unusual and stood out against the unbuilt Washington DC. "